Page 1657 – Must Read Alaska

Republicans to Election Division: Don’t certify District 40

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August 31, 2016

CHAIRMAN SENDS A DETAILED LETTER

Exactly two weeks after the polls closed for the Alaska Primary Election, the Alaska Republican Party has weighed in on the illegal voting procedures that have been identified across District 40 and 38.

Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock sent a letter to Division of Elections Director Josie Bahnke, in which he told Bahnke that certifying the election in District 40 would be a serious mistake. The entire letter is found at the Alaska Republican Party website.

“While the numerous errors and illegal procedures are deplorable, thankfully only one election decision hangs in the balance. Who actually won the State House Democratic Primary in District 40? The voters tried, but the election was handled so poorly that now no one knows.

“If you cannot actually determine the winner of a primary, you must not certify the election. That would be a travesty and it would condone the repeated illegal instructions given by the official election clerks,” the Alaska GOP letter reads.

The letter was a clear indication that Alaska Republicans are serious about keeping their primary ballot from becoming a political tool of opposing Democrats who would jump over and vote that ballot in order to advance a weak Republican candidate into the general election.

Alaska law allows political parties to select who may participate in their party’s primary. To change their primary participants, parties must submit a written notice to the Division of Elections before Sept. 1 of the year prior to the year in which the primary election is to be held.

There are currently two separate ballot choices, unless there is a ballot measure, in which case a third ballot is provided.

ADL ballot, which contains the Alaska Democratic Party, Alaska Libertarian Party and Alaskan Independence Party Candidate. All registered voters may vote this ballot.
Alaska Republican Party Candidate ballot. Registered Republican, Nonpartisan or Undeclared voters may vote this ballot; and
the Ballot Measures Only ballot – any registered voter may vote this ballot.

WHAT WILL BAHNKE DO? WHERE IS THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR?

*Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott was in Yakutat, but was said to be in travel status and unavailable for the hearing on voting irregularities.*

Earlier this week, Director Bahnke said she would have the election certified by this Friday. Meanwhile, her boss, the lieutenant governor, has been nowhere to be seen.

He was traveling to a Federal Reserve meeting in Wyoming, and then was spotted with a group of people in Yakutat, flying around on a private jet.

But he did not make himself available to the following day’s meeting of the House and Senate State Affairs Committee, which conducted a hearing about the voting irregularities.

The Governor of Alaska, Bill Walker, has also been completely silent on the election, although the governor himself flew to Kotzebue earlier this summer to raise money for candidate Dean Westlake, who currently has a 21-vote lead over Ben Nageak.

The lieutenant governor, the governor and his private-sector surrogate, lawyer Robin Brena, raised tens of thousands of dollars for Westlake and are now in the awkward position of having their first statewide primary election end badly with allegations of incompetence or fraud, and possibly be headed for a do-over.

HISTORY OF BLANKET BALLOT VS. PARTY BALLOT

In 1992, the Alaska Republican Party of Alaska challenged the constitutionality of Alaska’s “blanket primary” sytem. Through a series of court cases that ended in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, the matter was finally settled so that Republicans could maintain their voting strength with their own party ballot. The case ended hinging on the First Amendment right of the freedom of association: Political parties have the right to offer voting to members of the party, and not to the general electorate. Democrats have kept their ballot open to all parties because without additional voters from the Green Party, Alaska Independence Party or Libertarians, the Democrats would not be able to advance enough candidates.

Republicans open their ballots to those who are undeclared or nonaligned.

Other stories on this election are here:

District 40 election ‘illegal’ — may be certified anyway

Unbelievable: Byron Mallot declares election a success

Bright, shiny objects: Harriet loves vacancies; Craig Richards comes knocking

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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August 31, 2016

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THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD?

*Rep. Harriet Drummond holds a sign accusing fellow lawmakers of corruption / YouTube video screenshot.*

Rep. Harriet Drummond was so glad to be rid of the Alaska Republican Party headquarters in her neighborhood that she posted — not once but twice — a photo of the Republicans’ now-vacant former digs, a historic building that survived the earthquake of 1964 and was once a family home on Fireweed Lane.

But really, who celebrates commercial properties in District 18 going vacant?

The Alaska Republican Party had occupied the site for nearly 20 years and had done more than its share of cleaning up old hypodermic needles in the gutters outside and litter along the streets.

But Drummond did not get rid of the Grand Opportunity Party — it has moved to 2504 Fairbanks Street, inside the Don Young Headquarters…still in District 18 and able to keep an eye on the Democrats at their headquarters one block over.

Who can forget other Drummond missteps, such as the time she held a sign pointing to “Corrupt Bastards Club Third Floor,” when describing her fellow lawmakers who were present for the signing of SB 21, oil tax reform.

Drummond is being challenged by business owner Mike Gordon, who owned Chilkoot Charlie’s in Spenard for many years. He served on the Anchorage City Council and Borough Assembly in the 1970s.

Drummond didn’t post a similar celebratory note over the Blockbuster a few blocks over on Northern Lights.

WORKING OVERTIME?

A certain Juneau school board candidate who works for the Alaska Department of Revenue has been putting pressure on his coworkers during the work day to sign his petition for candidacy? That’s what they are telling Must Read Alaska. Not a good move. Advice: Candidates, don’t be doing that on State of Alaska government time.

AGDC TAKES ITS PR WORK TO HOUSTON

The Alaska Gasline Development Corporation is said to have canceled its marketing contract with a local Anchorage firm and moved the work to a Houston company. Which one? Marketing was dealt with in executive session in the July meeting of the AGDC board. We’re digging.

HEARD ON THE STREET

Word is the Governor’s Office has approached Alaska Permanent Fund board members in advance of a meeting on Sept. 2, and asked that former Attorney General Craig Richards be allowed time on the schedule. We’ve been told the board gave pushback, so maybe next meeting. Richards served on the board while he was the governor’s attorney general, but had to step down when he suddenly quit in June. Richards is now on contract with the governor to advance his gasline. Why on earth would the gasline adviser need to speak with the Permanent Fund Board of Directors?

It’s the first time in the fund’s history that any governor has so blatantly played politics with the fund.

Marty Rutherford, who took Richards’ place on the Permanent Fund board, appears to be standing firm with the private sector members of the board. However, Larry Cash’s seat comes up for renewal in one year. Will he survive or will the governor finally take control of the board of the Alaska Permanent Fund.

The amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend will be announced in just a few days. It will be less than half of what Alaskans would have gotten before Governor Walker taxed them about $1,300 each to make ends meet in the State’s budget.

District 40 election ‘illegal’ — may be certified anyway

Suzanne Downing

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August 30, 2016

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*Division of Elections Director Josie Bahnke / screen shot of KTVA interview.*

DISASTROUS TV INTERVIEW CUT SHORT BY DIVISION DIRECTOR

Division of Elections Director Josie Bahnke struggled to answer basic questions put to her by a joint Senate and House State Affairs Committee Monday. The questions were narrowly posed and pertained solely to glaring voting irregularities in Shungnak, Chefornak, and Newtok during the Aug. 16 primary. Other voting anomalies in Buckland, Bethel, and Barrow were not brought up in the hearing.

Only in Shungnak were the irregularities so profound that they might invalidate the results and force the state to call for a new election, the committee noted. On the ballot in District 40 was Dean Westlake challenging Rep. Ben Nageak.

Both are Democrats, and Westlake holds a 21 vote lead as the public waits for verification be completed in Juneau.

While Director Bahnke stammered, shuffled papers, and nervously laughed through her answers to the committee, at least she showed up telephonically to the hearing, noted Sen. Lesil McGuire. Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott did not appear, although ensuring fair elections is his only job in addition to guarding the state seal.

KTVA later interviewed Bahnke later, but she cut the interview short after drawing a blank on the question of how one would choose which ballots to count in a district where people had illegally voted more than one ballot and the ballots had since been commingled. She said the State will still certify the election even though it knows it was illegal.

During the two-hour committee meeting, Bahnke described the training her staff and temporary staff receives before elections but was unable to say how many workers simply choose to not receive training. That appeared to be the case in Shungnak, where the precinct leader said she had not received training for several years. Bahnke said it had been two years, but “if they don’t attend, there are no ramifications for them.”

Senator McGuire cautioned the director about certifying an election that she knows has so many provable missteps that can be directly linked to the outcome: “I encourage you to consider what your choices and options are and reach out to the Department of Law, the Department of Justice, the Attorney General, [because] there will be challenges if you don’t leave every stone unturned.”

Bahnke said she intends to certify the election by Friday but no later than Sept. 6.

In a letter to Bahnke dated Aug. 30, the chairman of the Alaska Republican Party also sent a warning shot: “The primary election of 2016, unfortunately, was subject to some critical, illegal, mistakes. These improprieties were made by numerous official precinct election clerks, but they were not your improper or illegal actions that you made personally. Now however, the buck stops with you. If you certify that you can determine the actual winner of the House District 40 primary election for state representative, that will be…your reputation on the line.”

Babcock went further and called for a new election in District 40:

“While the numerous errors and illegal procedures are deplorable, thankfully only one election decision hangs in the balance. Who actually won the State House Democratic Primary in District 40? The voters tried, but the election was handled so poorly that now no one knows. If you cannot actually determine the winner of a primary, you must not certify the election. That would be a travesty and it would condone the repeated illegal instructions given by the official election clerks.

“This dilemma can be solved justly, simply, and properly by allowing voters in District 40 to determine the winner of the election by legal votes cast rather than a tainted improper and unknowable primary vote. There are no Republican candidates in the general election and there are no third party candidates in the general election. A legal and fair election can be held on November 8 and the voters of District 40 allowed to cast legal votes for their state representative.” – Tuckerman Babcock, Alaska Republican Party Chairman

BARROW RESIDENT DESCRIBES VOTER SUPPRESSION

Luke Welles of Barrow testified to the committee on Monday that residents in Barrow who were Republicans were denied access to the open ballot that has Alaska Independence, Libertarian and Democrats listed.

He described the frustrations and he and his wife experienced at the polls when election workers denied them ballots, saying they would have to vote a questioned ballot. They persisted and were finally allowed to vote. That problem also occurred in other parts of the state, but in District 40 it may have influenced the outcome of the close race.

The Republican Party contacted Bahnke on Election Day to report instances of voter suppression that were experienced by Republican voters in other parts of the state. Bahnke said she was aware of the problem.

ANCHORAGE RESIDENT DESCRIBES LOST VOTER REGISTRATION

Deborah Brollini testified that her son’s voter registration, completed earlier this year and documented by family photographs, was not found in the system by election workers on Aug. 16. The office of Sen. Lesil McGuire was able to locate the records and solve the problem so the young man could vote, but Brollini said it placed a doubt in her son’s mind about the fairness of the election system.

District 40 questioned ballots: Another odd twist

Suzanne Downing

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August 29, 2016

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*Sen. Bill Stoltze, chairman of State Affairs Committee, holds a hearing this morning on the recent primary elections.*

WHERE ARE THE QUESTIONED BALLOTS THIS YEAR?

In the last four primaries, District 40 had far more questioned ballots than absentee ballots.

In fact, questioned ballots exceeded absentees by 118 percent for the four primaries before this year.

But in 2016’s primary, Aug. 16, the questioned ballot count drastically dropped — it fell to 62.8 percent, nearly half of the historical count.

This is a radical change in voting behavior, especially since there was a hotly contested race between Rep. Ben Nageak and Dean Westlake who has evidently won the battle.

Voting irregularities in District 40 and 38 have led to what may be an interesting set of explanations from the Division of Elections, which is under pressure because of over-voting, non-private voting, and strangely high numbers of proxy ballots cast.

A hearing at 10 am today may explain some of it. The hearing is scheduled to take place at the Anchorage Legislative Information Offices in Anchorage.

Documents for the hearing are now posted. The hearing will also be teleconferenced. Some of those who have been called to appear include Josie Bahnke, Division of Elections director, and Byron Mallott, lieutenant governor, who oversees elections.

Pertaining to the strange drop in questioned ballots in an election where those ballots were expected to fall toward Nageak, there are questions:

Did half of the questioned ballots just never show up in Nome to be counted? Were they thrown out on the spot?
Did widespread voter suppression take place, as we heard on Election Day, when election workers told Republicans they would have to vote a questioned ballots, which may have led them to leave in disgust?
In addition, is the Division of Elections saying that not a single questioned ballot for District 40 was cast outside the district, such as in Fairbanks or Anchorage? Remarkable.

Bright, shiny objects: Palestinian woman summits Denali, reindeer sitter needed

The 907

Suzanne Downing

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August 29, 2016

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*Suzanne al Houby poses at the top of Denali this summer.*

HAD BEEN TURNED BACK ON THREE PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS

Suzanne Al Houby, a Palestinian-born and current United Arab Emirates resident, is the first Arab woman to have conquered the seven summits of the world, and she did so this summer in Alaska when she reached the peak of Denali, 20,310 feet above sea level.

She had made three previous attempts to scale the highest mountain in North America but was turned back due to weather and severe frostbite.

Al Houby is quoted by Emirates 24|7: “I feel ecstatic as I have earned it finally. I just couldn’t give up on this dream and I kept trying until I finally made it!” She’s no amateur; she’s the CEO of Rahhalah Explorers, an adventure travel company in UAE.

REINDEER BABYSITTER NEEDED

Filed under “best story for your grandkids — ever” is this reindeer babysitting gig coming up in September: “Reindeer sitter needed – September 17 – October 15 – Want a chance to spend a month in Alaska with reindeer? Jane is heading to Mongolia to learn from herders there and we need a little reindeer help around the ranch. Room and board included. Message us for details.” Here’s the link.

THAT MAKES 26-PLUS HOMICIDES IN ANCHORAGE IN 2016

Two males, dead along the Chester Creek Trail at Valley of the Moon Park, brings the Anchorage homicide total to 26, plus a couple of corpses that are of unknown death.

Officers responding to a citizen call just before 2 a.m. found a male dead on the bike path and a second male dead nearby, police said in a Nixle statement:

Just before 2 AM on Sunday, August 28, 2016, Anchorage Police received a call from a citizen stating they found a deceased person on the bike path at Valley of the Moon Park. Police arrived and found a male who appeared to be a victim of a homicide. As police were searching the area they found another male victim nearby, also in the park, who was deceased and appeared to be a homicide victim.

The park has been shut down while police investigate but there are no road closures. No one is in custody. Further information will be released as details are confirmed in the case.

The APD case number is 16-36313. If you want to become an Anchorage Police Officer, there are jobs open here.

Airboat, because it makes the Park Service irritable. — *Airboat, because it makes the Park Service irritable, was one of the items in the Great Alaska Garage Sale fundraiser.*

GREAT ALASKA GARAGE SALE RAISES $44,000

An event in Fairbanks to help with the legal bills of Alaska hunter and access rights hero John Sturgeon netted just shy of $44,000, according to Craig Compeau, who organized the event. Here is our story from Friday.

Why so many proxy ballots in District 40?

Politics

Suzanne Downing

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August 28, 2016

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Why so many proxy ballots in District 40?

BALLOTS COUNTED – SURPRISE, IT’S A WIN FOR WESTLAKE, PERHAPS

Although Rep. Ben Nageak of Barrow has reportedly conceded the District 40 election to Dean Westlake of Kotzebue (source: Westlake’s Facebook page), the primary election held on Aug. 16 gave Alaskans a chance to see just how good the Division of Elections is performing under Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott.

Some Alaskans were underwhelmed. Ballots were counted late. Reporting was spotty. Ballot security was, well, insecure.

Numerous serious election violations have cropped up in both District 40 and 38.

So much so, that State Senate Affairs Chairman Bill Stoltze has called a hearing for Monday at the Legislative Information Offices in Anchorage to review the problems.

(Earlier story: Elections were an unholy mess.)

Meanwhile, the Division of Elections’ mysterious media blackout ended late Friday night and it released its final results, which included questioned, absentee, and other ballots that simply appeared out of nowhere.

Among those random ballots that appeared, one set causes a raised eyebrow: A dramatic increase in “personal representative voting” in some places that exceed what would be statistically likely.

People who are unable to vote on election day have many choices:

In person (15 days before an election)
By mail (deadline to apply is 10 days before an election)
By fax (15 days before a Primary or General Election)
Special needs (personal representative) voting for disabled voters (15 days before an election)

Special needs voting can be done 15 days leading up to an election through a personal representative who can bring the ballot application to the home-bound voter, return it to the election official with the filled-out application, pick up the ballot, return to the voter with the ballot. The home-bound voter then marks the ballot, puts in it a secrecy sleeve, and seals it into an envelope. The personal representative brings the voted ballot back to the election official by 8 pm on Election Day.

To be clear, here is how the law reads:

If you are unable to go to the polls due to age, serious illness or a disability, you may have a personal representative pick up and deliver a ballot to you beginning 15 days before an election at any Early/In-Person Voting site. Special needs ballots can also be obtained on Election Day at the polling place. Your personal representative can be anyone except a candidate for office in the election, your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union. For additional information about special needs voting, please contact your Regional Elections Office.

A HEALTH CRISIS IN BUCKLAND? THE NUMBERS SUGGEST

Buckland is home, it appears, to a disproportionate number of disabled, seriously ill or old people, because although the weather was clear throughout August, and while 69 people made it to the polls in Buckland to vote (or voted with an absentee ballot), there were 11 who voted through a personal representative.

That means 14 percent of the voters voted via a proxy because they were disabled, seriously ill or old.

Statewide, 256 personal representation ballots were processed by the Division of Elections. Buckland represents 4 percent of those ballots, but only .05 percent of the state’s population.

Buckland is in fourth place for special needs voting across the state, if you look at the raw numbers.

But the Northwest Arctic Borough village of 450 is in first place when it comes to the percentage of voters using a personal representative.

There were more special needs voters in Buckland with its 269 registered voters than there were in Fairbanks with its 68,000 registered voters. Buckland also beat out Wasilla, Eagle River, Palmer, Soldotna, Seward, or Valdez, in the number of personal representation ballots cast.

Here’s a snapshot of the special needs – personal representation ballots processed from around the state:

Anchorage – 71 (200,000 registered voters)
Juneau – 35 (22,000 registered voters)
Homer – 16 (7,000 registered voters)
Buckland – 11 (269 registered voters)
Fairbanks 10 (68,000 registered voters)
Wasilla 8
Eagle River 6
Palmer 6
Kiana 5 (245 registered voters)
Newtok 5
Kenai 4
Soldotna 4
Seward 4
Valdez 4

SPECIAL NEEDS BALLOTS ARRIVE SEVERAL DAYS LATER

Not only did Buckland have an extraordinary number of these proxy ballots, but they didn’t arrive in Nome until Aug. 22 — six days after the election.

In all, in District 40, there were 24 special needs – personal representative ballots cast. None was logged in prior to Election Day, and just three arrived in a timeframe that seems normal for Bush Alaska:

3 from Kotzebue logged on Aug. 19 in Nome
11 from Buckland logged on Aug. 22 in Nome
5 from Kiana logged on Aug. 22 in Nome
5 from Kotzebue, Noorvik, Selwik and Shungnak logged on Aug. 22 in Nome

As for flying weather in the region for that week, visibility never dropped below five miles and generally stayed in the 8-10 mile range, so flights weren’t grounded.

Why it took so long for ballots to be logged is yet another mystery of the District 40 election process, which has shown other irregularities.

BUCKLAND HISTORICAL REVIEW

*Dean Westlake with Mark Begich / Begich photo from flickr*

Looking back over the years, Buckland had 6 special needs votes in 2012, and 8 in 2014. But over four years, it has nearly doubled the number of people voting via proxy. This is unusual for a village where the median age is 18, and only 3 percent of the population is older than 65.

Who knows what went on in Buckland with the 11 ballots that showed up in Nome six days past the deadline. Those ballots should have been on the same plane as the others, since they were due back at the local election office by 8 pm on Aug. 16.

Who did Buckland vote for in the hotly contested state House race?

43 voted for Dean Westlake, and 11 voted for Ben Nageak., for a total of 54 people voting on that portion of the ballot, and a total of 54 cards cast.

Between those questionable 11 ballots cast and the pattern of double ballots across District 40, the Monday hearing has a lot of ground to cover.

# # #

Our original reporting on Aug. 18 peeled back the covers on voting problems in District 40.

Alaska Dispatch New story of Aug. 19.

KTVA’s story of Aug. 22.

Juneau Empire’s story of Aug. 24.

Craig Medred’s report.

Other Must Read Alaska Reports on this issue:

Bright, shiny objects: Rescues, jobs, a missing precinct

Unbelievable: Byron Mallot declares election a success

Curiouser and curiouser: Delayed primary results

Suzanne Downing

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August 27, 2016

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Curiouser and curiouser: Delayed primary results

PUBLIC MIGHT WONDER WHAT DIVISION OF ELECTIONS IS HIDING

*Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott on a site visit to Manakotok on Election Day.*

It’s late at night, Friday, August 26, and still no official count of questioned ballots and final results have been posted by the Division of Elections.

This is 10 days and a few hours after the primary election came to a close, and the uncertainty in the District 40 race between incumbent Rep. Ben Nageak and challenger Dean Westlake is still unresolved.

Word on the street is that Westlake has won the questioned ballots by 21. The count is Westlake 819 Nageak 798.

There were 39 questioned ballots that were being allowed as part of the count.

But at this point, the public will never know how that race really went. There were so many irregularities across the district, that it will become part of history books; the sham of the primary of 2016 will be taught in college political science courses. Someone will do a master’s thesis on it.

One hopes that they’ll know that Republicans in District 40 who wanted to vote the Democratic ballot were made to fill out a questioned ballot form first. That was clearly improper.

Was it voter suppression?

Voter suppression is a strategy to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging people from voting or creating unnecessary barriers.

Are the delays reporting the results a way to discourage media scrutiny?

Were there extra ballots that needed to be found to ensure a Westlake victory?

It’s clear as mud. The primary election, with its 105 percent turnout in Newtok and its double ballots in Shungak and Chefornak does not meet the standard of a free and fair election.

Will the Department of Justice care enough about the disenfranchised voters to send in officials now?

Or will Alaskans always remember August 2016 as the year that every vote counted, but some just counted more than others.

Begich needs to come clean — but can he?

Suzanne Downing

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August 26, 2016

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BEGICH ACCUSES, BUT WON’T TAKE A STAND HIMSELF

By ANN BROWN

I read with interest former Sen. Mark Begich’s Aug. 12 Alaska Dispatch News column about our congressional delegation’s support, or lack thereof, for Donald Trump. He managed to accuse others of exactly what he himself is doing.

In his column “Time for Young, Sullivan and Murkowski to take an honest stand on Trump,” Begich accuses our congressional delegation of continuing to “dance around the question of whether or not they will vote for Trump.”

That is just not true. Sen. Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Don Young both said they are supporting and voting for Trump. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has made clear her position on Hillary Clinton.

To her, Hillary Clinton is unacceptable. Unlike Begich, or her challenger, “independent” Margaret Stock — who has not yet been asked the question — Murkowski is on record as saying that she will not vote for Hillary Clinton, based on her policies, which would be a disaster for Alaska.

Begich does not dare to be so clear with the public. In a most evasive way, he managed to write more than 1,000 words in his column falsely accusing the delegation of lack of decisiveness, while not once saying whom he is supporting.

Why wouldn’t Begich write that he is supporting Hillary Clinton, even though it is clear he is doing her bidding? Because, although he does not seem to care about the state’s economic future — as evidenced by the party he belongs to and the national Democrats whom he has supported and who have supported him, he does seem to care about his political future.

Committing himself, in writing, to supporting Hillary Clinton for president would be the kiss of death for him in Alaska. Let’s count the reasons that his support for such a presidential candidate shows a complete lack of regard for the welfare of our state.

First: Hillary Clinton said she will permanently lock up the Arctic against oil and gas development — something that is vital for Alaska’s future.

Second: She said she will make oil production on lands even more difficult.

Third: She wants to kill fracking, which has been part of Alaska’s energy industry and will be important to our future, particularly as the independent companies make smaller pools of oil commercially viable.

Fourth: She has declared war on the coal industry and said she wants to put “coal miners out of work.” Presumably, that also includes the hundreds of Alaskans in the Interior who are employed in the coal industry. Further, if she has her way with coal, it would be the last dagger in the heart of the Alaska Railroad.

Fifth: Alaska has been more negatively impacted by Obamacare than any other state in the country. Recall that Begich voted to pass Obamacare and Clinton has promised to expand it.

Finally, Clinton intends to whittle away further at our Second Amendment rights.

In short, a President Clinton would kill our economy, increase the government’s involvement in our health care choices and make it harder for us to defend ourselves. And she will have a Supreme Court to back her on the implementation of all of these policies.

Donald Trump has said some questionable things, and his behavior at times has been unfortunate. But he has not targeted Alaska’s workers, or our economy, or our values, as his challenger has done.

Begich, and other Alaska Democrats and “Independents,” know this but will support Hillary Clinton anyway. They will then try to distract the public by pointing to whatever Trump story the media happens to be featuring during the campaign.

Of course, it is possible that Begich will come clean with Alaskans, as he did in 2014 when he begrudgingly told the public that he was voting for Obama but that it was “irrelevant.” That he chose the word “irrelevant” is telling, and was likely preying on his mind. It was, after all, about that time Alaskans began to question what he had been able to accomplish in the U.S. Senate in his six years, two years of which were when his party had majorities in the House and Senate.

The answer? Not much, except the passage of Obamacare. He was such a poor negotiator, and cared so little for Alaska, that he got nothing in exchange for his vote, unlike other states that got the “Cornhusker Kickback” and the “Louisiana Purchase.”

To quote from an October 2014 edition of the New Republic, a respected left-of-center publication, “(Begich) has performed without distinction as a senator since winning a fluke election six years ago. He doesn’t have a trademark issue; no important bill bears his name.” His tacit endorsement of an avowedly anti-Alaska candidate isn’t likely to add any distinction to his political career in our state, but it might help him in his new role as a lobbyist.

Ann Brown is a former member of the Alaska Republican Party State Executive and Central Committees. She resides in Fairbanks. This opinion first appeared in the Alaska Dispatch News.

Great Alaska garage sale has THIS amazing benefit

Suzanne Downing

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August 26, 2016

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Great Alaska garage sale has THIS amazing benefit

John Sturgeon with his hovercraft before the U.S. Park Service decided to tangle with him. Photo credit: Unknown — *John Sturgeon with his hovercraft before the U.S. Park Service decided to tangle with him. Photo credit: U.S. Park Service*

THEY DON’T MESS AROUND IN FAIRBANKS

Now that you’re reading, this garage sale event is a fundraiser for John Sturgeon, who took his case against the National Park Service all the way to the Supreme Court.

It cost Sturgeon, an Alaska hunter, more than $750,000 in legal fees to defend Alaskans’ right to navigate Alaska rivers in hovercrafts in pursuit of moose, or for any other reason.

Hovercrafts are useful when rivers are low. They make a lot of sense for hunting. The Park Service wants to ban them.

Sturgeon battled through the courts all the way to the Supremes. And he won.

About $600,000 has been raised for the Sturgeon legal fees, but it’s not over. The case has been remanded back to the Ninth Circuit and could go back to the Supreme Court. This case will cost close to a $1 million before it’s over.

And that’s why you might want to head up to Fairbanks on Saturday where you can buy all kinds of amazing Alaska gear at a garage sale, where 100 percent of the proceeds will defray the legal fees that Sturgeon is still staring at.

“I just thought, how can we raise money for a guy who has put his foot down, did what needed to be done, and carried the heavy load? Everybody has an outdoor item they can spare, so why not turn it into cash and help pay down his legal bills?” said his friend Craig Compeau, who is organizing the fundraiser.

“Anybody who has ever picked up a fishing pole or used a rifle to hunt in Alaska has skin in the game and should help,” Compeau said.

You can donate your items until 6 pm tonight and you can go online to stoptheoverreach.com where you can make a tax-deductible donation.

If you go to the Great Alaska Garage Sale, you’ll get to meet Sturgeon, who has achieved folk hero status in Alaska. You’ll be able to find some outstanding outdoor gear for a great price and an even greater cause.

For instance, you can get your very own airboat. Sure, it’s not a hovercraft, but it can still do some pretty sick moves:

OR THIS…

All kinds of hunting stuff. — *All kinds of hunting stuff, because…guns!*

OR THIS…

Canoes, cars, snow machines, and gear. — *Canoes, cars, four-wheelers, snow machines, and all kinds of nifty survival gear, because…Alaska!*

GREAT ALASKA GARAGE SALE BENEFITS JOHN STURGEON LEGAL FUND

Place: Compeau’s Inc.

Location: 4122 Boat Street, Fairbanks

Date and Time: Saturday, Aug. 27, 11 am – 4 pm

Why: From the legal brief: “What is at stake here for Alaska is not just a different view…about permissible weekend recreation or the best method of routing tourists through national parks…[It’s because] unencumbered access to Alaska’s waters and meaningful use of Alaska’s natural resources is necessary to sustain life in much of rural Alaska.”

BACKGROUNDER

In March, the U.S. Supreme Court reversal of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision made Alaskan John Sturgeon into a giant-slayer.

Back in 2007, Sturgeon was on the Nation River in the middle of the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, using a hovercraft to get to place to hunt moose, as he had since 1991.

But the National Park Service rangers he encountered that beautiful fall day decided he could not use his small rubber boat (which had broken down) because it was too noisy for a national park.

Sturgeon wasn’t even allowed to take his boat out of the preserve under its own power. The rangers told him he’d have to get another boat to haul it out.

Sturgeon was mistreated by Park Service personnel, but the underlying case he brought against the Park Service was not just a grudge. Since when does the Park Service have authority over navigable waters in Alaska? ANILCA gave that to the state.

With 60 percent of Alaska owned by the federal government, many Alaskans say, “not one more inch!” And John Sturgeon’s case became a cause for hunters, recreationalists, and states-rights advocates.

While he lost at the district level and at the Ninth Circuit, John Sturgeon fought on. It was now David vs. Goliath. Fundraisers took place across the state to help raise the hundreds of thousands of dollars it was costing him to fight on Alaskans’ behalf.

“It’s a victory for all of Alaska,” Sturgeon wrote.

Governor Sean Parnell and the State of Alaska, with then-Attorney General Dan Sullivan, filed a brief in support of Sturgeon, saying such federal overreach “threatens not only the state’s sovereignty . . . but also the way of life of ordinary Alaskan citizens.”

Parnell celebrated the unanimous victory in March, 2016: “As governor, I was proud of John Sturgeon for standing up for his rights as an Alaskan against the Park Service, and I was honored to fight with him for the state’s interest in our waters and lands.”

The Supreme Court decision is here.

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